retched out wild arms as though to clutch the very soil.
This sight gave the Pilgrim a great surprise, for it was the first time
she had heard any sound of pain, or seen any sight of trouble, since she
entered here. In that moment she knew what it was that the dear Lord had
given her to do. She had no need to pause to think, for her heart told
her; and she did not hesitate as she might have done in the other life,
not knowing what to say. She went forward, and gathered this poor
creature into her arms, as if it had been a child, and drew her quite
within the land of peace--for she had fallen across the threshold, so as
to hinder any one entering who might be coming after her. It was a
woman, and she had flung herself upon her face, so that it was difficult
for the little Pilgrim to see what manner of person it was, for though
she felt herself strong enough to take up this new-comer in her arms and
carry her away, yet she forbore, seeing the will of the stranger was not
so. For some time the woman lay moaning, with now and then a great sob
shaking her as she lay. The little Pilgrim had taken her by both her
arms, and drawn her head to rest upon her own lap, and was still holding
the hands, which the poor creature had thrown out as if to clutch the
ground. Thus she lay for a little while, as the little Pilgrim
remembered she herself had lain, not wishing to move, wondering what had
happened to her; and then she clutched the hands which grasped her, and
said, muttering--

"You are some one new. Have you come to save me? Oh, save me! Oh, save
me! Don't let me die!"

This was very strange to the little Pilgrim, and went to her heart. She
soothed the stranger, holding her hands warm and light, and stooping
over her.

"Dear," she said, "you must try and not be afraid."

"You say so," said the woman, "because you are well and strong. You
don't know what it is to be seized in the middle of your life, and told
that you've got to die. Oh, I have been a sinful creature! I am not fit
to die. Can't you give me something that will cure me? What is the good
of doctors and nurses if they cannot save a poor soul that is not fit to
die?"

At this the little Pilgrim smiled upon her, always holding her fast, and
said--

"Why are you so afraid to die?"

The woman raised her head to look who it was who put such a strange
question to her.

"You are some one new," she said. "I have never seen you before. Is
there anyone that is not a